


The 13th Ghost

by Angel170



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 13 ghosts, F/M, Halloween Challenge, M/M, Taleteller's Fright Night 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-24 08:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8364292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel170/pseuds/Angel170
Summary: A mysterious stranger calls asking Sam for help with a ghost house. Tfw takes on the case but finds it's a lot more complicated than they thought. Now they have to deal with the Ghostfacers, an eye of hell and 12 trapped spirits. Nothing is ever easy.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a halloween challenge and was a lot of fun. I didn't use a beta for this fic but I hope everyone likes it. All thanks go to sdavid09 on tumblr for inviting me to join her challenge. Taleteller's fright night 2016. My prompt was 13Ghosts and "the scary part is over you can open your eyes now."

“I do not understand how no one can believe this child. I understand that traumatic experiences can make people uncomfortable, but it seems ridiculous that nearly every horror movie we’ve seen had adults doubting children who knew the truth of numerous murders. Honestly, even if they don’t believe a doll has come to life, or a crazed man is stalking their dreams, people are still dying in unexplained ways.” Castiel glowered at the screen as Dean chuckled extracting his arm from around Cas’ shoulders getting up to switch out the dvd.

“It’s a horror movie cliche Cas. It makes the audience angry at the adults and makes them sympathize with the hero more.” Sam explained before getting out of his chair and stretching. They had decided to spend their day off watching horror movies. Castiel had had first choice and he picked Nightmare before Christmas, and the corpse bride. Sam hadn’t mind the picks because he enjoyed the movies but Dean’s cinema prowess must have felt personally offended because when he saw what Sam and Cas were watching he demanded Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Chucky marathons but only the first few movies of each series. Even Sam could admit he lost respect for each series the more movies they kept releasing and making them less horror and more comedy.

“But even so, with the amount of times that the evil entities continue to come back people should start to believe their children’s warnings. They have yet to be proven wrong.”

“It's just a movie Cas. You're meant to enjoy it.” Dean rolled his eyes as he snapped the movie back into the case and placed another one in the player. “Look this one isn't like the others, no big bad the kids gotta warn anyone about. This one is about following the rules of Halloween, it's called Trick r’ Treat and it's awesome. Has sexy girls in costumes and everything.”

“Guy that plays Henry is pretty damn hot too.” Sam laughed at Dean’s grossed out face before heading to the door. “I’m gonna make more popcorn anybody want anything while I'm up?”

“Maybe some more root beer thank you.” Cas answered.

“Pie, I know there's still some pecan in the fridge.”

Sam gave him an eyeroll which Dean ignored. Sam knew his brother loved pie and really if he was going to offer to get stuff for them it should have been expected. After coming back to the couch Dean sat next to Cas throwing an arm back around the angel’s shoulder before pulling him in for a kiss.

“You like the movies so far?”

“Yes, while I do have some grievances with certain things, I do find the movies themselves entertaining.” Cas bent his head, hoping to hide the blush, but Dean just pressed a kiss to his temple. “My favorite part has just been spending time with you.”

“Same here Cas. We’ve been long overdo for some downtime.” He pressed another kiss to his boyfriend before the sound of a cell phone interrupted them. “Just ignore it.”

“Dean, it could be important.” He gave his hunter a soft smile as Dean grumbled, getting up and snatching Sam’s phone from the coffee table.

Dean ignored the pleased little smile on Cas’ face, knowing he’d just be even more annoyed at not being able to kiss and cuddle his boyfriend. “Yeah, what you want?”

“Dean!” Castiel reprimanded his boyfriend.

He growled but forced a sarcastic smile on his face, “Hi this is Sam’s phone, how can I help you?” There was static on the other line, as though whoever called was on an old landline instead of a cell. “Hello?”

“Sam, help me."

“This is Dean, Sam’s brother. Who is this? Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

“They trapped them, all of them, they trapped me.” The voice sounded familar but he couldn’t place it, only that it was a woman.

“Who trapped you?”

“They’re all dead, and angry, so angry. I’m scared, please Dean I need Sam.”

“Okay listen,” Dean turned and found Cas standing next to him holding out a legal pad and a pen “tell me where you are. I promise we’ll come help.”

“It’s...it’s a ghost house. How is that real?” the voice got quiet and more static erupted over the line. He grabbed the pad and pen and wrote down the numbers, his brow furrowed until he realized it was coordinates. “We’ll be there as soon as we can, can you tell me your name? How do you know Sam?” the phone clicked and went silent before the dial tone came on. “Hello?”

“Dean, Cas, what’s wrong?” Sam frowned, seeing his brother and best friend huddled around his phone.

Castiel tilted his head to the side, giving both brothers a perplexed look, “I believe we have a case.”

“Sam wrap up the pie for the trip then look up these coordinates, Cas grab the duffels with clothes, I’m gonna pack up the weapons.” Dean barked the orders before heading to where they kept their weapons, filling their bags with everything they needed for a ghost hunt and some extra weapons just in case.

*****

Dean frowned up at the large glass house in the middle of dense woods. They had been driving for hours and barely managed to find the house, it was so far away from any towns or cities. The house was about two stories tall and may have a basement judging by how the first floor seemed to be a little above ground level. The entire thing looked to be see through, no walls only glass, and the lights inside were on emitting a blue glow.

“Anyone else getting a house on haunted hill vibe right now?” Dean asked as he got out of the car and headed to the trunk for the duffels with weapons.

“Well from what I found online you aren’t too far off.” Sam opened the side door, reading from his case notes as Castiel stood next to the car door his eyes on the house. “The original owner of the property was a Cyrus Kriticos, he was rumored to have dabbled in the occult and Devil worship. He disappeared ten years after making his first million and seems to have just gotten richer each year until his disappearance.”

“10 years huh? How much you wanna bet old Cyrus made a deal?” Dean said as he dropped the bags at both men’s feet.

“Most likely but that wouldn’t explain why there would be ghosts in the house now? A hellhound would have taken him directly down not left his spirit here.” At Dean’s flinch at hellhound Cas grabbed his hand giving it a squeeze. “Sam, was there anything else in there about Cyrus or his descendants maybe a new owner? Or a business partner who took over his property?”

“No, nothing. There was nothing online about there even being a house here but since the whole area is private property it could just be that he had it built without telling anyone. He had more than enough money to do it and keep a lid on it. Since his disappearance some people have come out claiming to be his kid to claim his money, but his businesses actually have his DNA on file and they were all found to be lying.” Sam got up from the passenger side and grabbed his bag. “I say we check the house, it’s most likely abandoned and we’re too far from any motels. Best to get in now and see what we’re dealing with. If it’s Cyrus’ ghost it shouldn’t be hard to deal with him, if it’s more than him we got enough iron and salt to get an idea of how many and then come back out.”

“Is that writing on the glass?” Dean pointed to the house. Now that they were closer they could see what looked like white calligraphy writing on each glass panel all over the house. The brothers looked closer but couldn’t recognize the language. “What’s it say Cas?”

“I am unsure, it’s not a dialect I am familiar with but it looks to be a spell to repel supernatural creatures.”

“You think Cyrus built this to protect him from the hellhounds?” Dean asked while taking Cas’ hand.

“Possibly, but the spell is much stronger than something for simply hellhounds. I don’t think my grace will work inside, if I’m even able to pass over the threshold.”

“Are you saying this spell is powerful enough to bind an angel’s grace?” Sam looked at the house with renewed interest. “Cyrus may have made a deal with a top tier demon then if he needed something like this. Maybe, well… he could have even been a witch or warlock to make something like this.”

“Fucking hate witches.” Dean grumbled as he tucked a gun behind his waist band and passed one to Cas.

The trio armed themselves as much as they could before heading into the house. Each brother watched as Castiel stepped through first. Once he was inside they stepped up behind him. Dean asked if he was depowered and he nodded solemnly, glad that he was skilled with his angel blade and that Dean had taught him how to fire a gun as well as he can. They continued inside, pushing open sliding glass doors to enter into the foyer. There was no furniture there, only the expertly waxed and shiny bronze floor. The hunters followed Cas as he headed to a sliding door, the wheels visible in the thick glass looking incredibly steam punk but Dean bit back the urge to mention it. There were certain glass panels that had the metal gears inside, usually a door or an odd wall, there were also certain panels that weren’t complete glass and had a metal part either coming up from below or down from above the glass. Dean didn’t know much about home decorating but it made him uneasy.

The men made their way up the stairs squeezing behind each other in a line in the narrow hallway. They each went into a different room to check for hex bags or for any clues as to the ghosts or their mystery caller. Dean looked up seeing both his brother and boyfriend through the walls. He wouldn’t want something that provided no privacy but he did like the idea of always seeing the people he loved most and knowing they were okay. “Hey, you two keep checking up here I’m gonna head back down to the main floor and see what I can find.”

“Dean, I don’t think we should split up,” Sam glowered.

Castiel put his hand on Sam’s forearm before turning back to Dean. “It’s alright Dean we’ll be fine. Just be careful.” At the open look of love from Cas Dean turned hoping they didn’t see his reddened cheeks. Sometimes it was still hard for him to accept how much Castiel loved him and how free he was with showing it.

Sam glared at the angel but Cas paid no mind to it. “We shouldn’t be splitting up when we don’t know what we’re dealing with, especially without your grace.”

“Dean is a protector Sam, and the thing he worries most about is our safety. If he can not be with us then it makes sense for us to be together to protect each other. In his mind it is the only option so he wouldn’t be forced to choose to have one of us with him and the other alone. If we had went with that plan Dean would have been unfocused and could harm himself or us. Trust in your brother Sam.”

“I do Cas, God knows I trust him with my life, you too of course. I know how he is and how he mama bears us to death.” He sighed and ran a hand through his long brown locks. “I think I’m just freaked out that someone called for me and there’s no one here. There’s a lot of people I’ve let down living and dead and the thought that this could be a trap is fucking with my head.”

Castiel laid his hand on Sam’s shoulder offering an anchor from the worry plaguing him. “I understand feeling like you haven’t lived up to the expectations of others, I also understand being under the influence of something that caused you to hurt those you cared for, as well as strangers. Dean knows it as well and it’s a risk we take each time we step out of the bunker that someone won’t come to get their revenge. You aren’t alone in this Sam but whatever doubts you may have about your goodness or how much you didn’t live up to an outsiders expectation you have to let it go. You are Sam Winchester and all you can be is yourself, you will falter and make mistakes but it doesn’t make your soul any less bright, or make you any less worthy of forgiveness from others and from yourself.”

Wet hazel eyes looked up to calm cerulean blue, “thank you Cas. Okay, not the time for chick flick moments. But, thank you really.” Castiel simply nodded back and they continued searching the rooms.

*****

Dean walked quietly down each of the halls on the ground floor, his gun and demon knife out. He took his time going around corners keeping an eye out for witches and ghosts. He knew he should pull out the EMF meter but he didn’t want to let go of either of his weapons. He walked past the living room or what he assumed was a living room given how there was hardly any furniture. That more than anything was putting him on edge, how does a multi-millionaire build a house out in the middle of nowhere but has no furniture? Nothing that anyone would have to make their house a home and a place of comfort. There were no tv’s, no radio or computers, even the bookshelves had knick knacks but no books for personal enjoyment. His spider senses were tingling and he knew there was something really up with the house but he couldn’t figure it out yet. In the hall he heard someone murmuring from the next room. Gun raised he stalked closer to the door his finger on the trigger as someone walked out and right in front of the gun. The other man let off a powerful high pitched scream and threw himself back against the wall. It was only due to Dean’s long history as a hunter he didn’t shoot the man on sight. Then again seeing who it was he was suddenly wondering if he should and save himself the trouble of dealing with him.

“Ed!” the voice behind Dean cried out and ran to his friend pushing Dean out of the way.

“You’ve got to be kidding me what the hell are you two doing here?” Dean growled at Ed and Harry, the Ghostfacers being here meant nothing good for Dean or the case.

“What are we doing here? What are you doing here?” Harry glared at Dean now that the older man lowered his gun.

“We’re on a case, and you two shouldn’t be here.” Dean glared right back.

The sound of pounding footsteps signaled the arrival of Cas and Sam neither seemed happy to see the fake ghosthunters.

“What are you two doing here?” Sam asked as he watched the men warily pick themselves off the floor.

“We’re here hunting ghosts what do you think Thor.” Ed snapped back.

“We haven’t found anything yet but this could be too dangerous, especially knowing the history of the home owner you both should leave.” Castiel warned the novice ghosthunters.

“No way we were here first if anyone is going to leave it’s you three. We already started filming so you guys can go.” Harry waved them off.

“Filming? This house is dangerous and could have one if not more ghosts, you guys are risking your lives, stupidly, for a damn web show.” Sam was getting pissed and really just wanted to grab them and haul them out. He had no doubt Cas and Dean would let him.

“Are you kidding this is going to make our careers, screw webseries we’re gonna be on the Discovery channel or even the History channel.” Ed responded smugly before Dean yanked him by the collar of his shirt and started pulling him down the hall. By the familiar scream behind him he was sure either Sam or Castiel had grabbed his friend and were hauling him out too.

As they reached the end of the hall heading towards the foyer the house seemed to come to life. The sound of gears whirred and slams of something heavy and metal sounded all around the house. They all turned to see the window at the end of the hall showing the forest disappear as a metal panel slammed over the window trapping them inside. The walls began to move and the maze that was the house changed as doors were now walls and a wall panel now opened as a new door heading in a different direction than before. The front doors slammed shut with four glass panels then a metal one covered it from the outside.

“Son of a bitch!” Dean dropped Ed and stomped around, instinct told him to run to all the rooms and find a new exit but experience told him it would be useless.

“What did you do?” Sam yanked Harry up by the front of his shirt. Harry’s legs were kicking air as he panicked at the sight of the angry giant.

“What makes you think it was us? You were the last ones in here, it could have been you.” Harry struggled against Sam’s hold before Cas placed his hand over Sam’s and Harry was dropped to the ground.

“It could have been the ghost, man we should have been recording this.” Ed pouted while the seasoned hunters rolled their eyes.

“Maybe Kalina and Jake got footage.” Harry tried to offer as he brushed himself off.

“Who is Jake and Kalina?” Castiel asked before Dean could start yelling again.

“They’re our crew.” Ed responded proudly.

“Kalina is my girlfriend, she’s more than just part of the crew.” Harry snapped back, the way they glared at each other was obvious this wasn’t the first time they’d argued over this.

“Oh God I don’t care!” Dean barked causing them both to jump.

“Where did they go? We probably need to go save them.” Sam interrupted and gave his brother bitch face number 32. Yes, they didn’t like the Ghostfacers but if there were two people separated from the rest of the group in a house that may be haunted they needed to find them and quickly. Sam really didn’t want to feel responsible for the loss of more lives.

“They went to the basement to film down there while we were rehearsing our lines.” Harry responded.

“You just let them go off on their own in a house you knew was potentially dangerous and haunted?” Cas glared at them, that was incredible foolish and he knew the Winchesters would blame themselves if civilians were harmed regardless if they were at fault or not. The fact that Ed and Harry would bring people with them then allowed them to go off alone to danger infuriated him but he kept his composure.

“Hey, I’ll have you know the Ghostfacers are a highly skilled, highly specialized organization with operatives who are the best in the field.” Ed said with an air of superiority and his nose high in the air.

“Harry help!” A woman ran to them gasping, her clothes splattered with blood. The hunters were instantly on edge as Ed and Harry ran to her.

“Kalina, are you okay? What happened?” Harry quickly wrapped her in his arms as she crashed into him.

“Where the hell is Jake?” Ed asked as the hunters started looking around preparing themselves for a fight. Ed was pissed he really didn’t want the hunters to have something else over their heads.

“Dead...he’s...there was a bag,” she struggled to speak as she choked back sobs “in a room down in the basement. It was full of money so he picked it up. There was a pedal underneath it and when he lifted… when he lifted it these gears started turning and the doors were closing and we just ran. I got through one of the doors before it closed but… one of the walls opened and… and there was a ghost. He tried to run I was screaming at him to not go down the other hall but he ran and the door slammed on him.” An anguished sob escaped her as she squeezed her eyes shut clinging to Harry. “It cut him in half!”

“Son of a bitch! This is exactly why we tell you to stop this damn ghost hunting bullshit. You don’t know what you’re doing and innocent people get killed.” Dean snapped at them. He didn’t know the dead guy but he knew if it weren’t for the Ghostfacers he would still be alive.

“What did the ghost look like?” Castiel asked pushing any sympathy he may have for the deceased away. He wasn’t heartless but he knew more than likely the soul would be in heaven unless he truly deserved Hell so mourning him would be useless and counterproductive to putting the spirit to rest.

Kalina looked at Cas slightly taken aback, not having noticed the hunters when she ran in. Her voice had a slight edge to it as she responded to the stranger. “She had red hair, a knife, she had cuts all over her and... and she was naked.”

“Naked? Like naked naked?” Dean spoke up, his lips quirked “Did the carpets match the drapes?”

Cas and Sam bought rounded on him with double intense bitch faces that had him properly chastised. Sam just grunted as Dean looked down his cheeks tinting a light pink. He really thought when his brother and Castiel finally got together Dean would stop with the over compensating hypermasculine bullshit lines. But, alas Sam was wrong and it turned out it was just apart of Dean’s personality not a role he was stepping into.

“Okay so we know for a fact that there’s at least one ghost in the house, the house was apparently booby trapped with a bag of money, which realistically anyone coming across it would have went for, and now we’re trapped in here. We need to find out more about this house and Cyrus.” Sam stood tall knowing his immense height and tone would broker no argument.

They got their things together and followed Kalina as she led them to what seemed to be Cyrus’ personal office. There was only one door in the room and it was completely enclosed in glass with the strange writing. Unlike other rooms there was no gears attached to the walls to close or open them to lead down different pathways. Instead this seemed to be somewhat of a safe room, so the hunters quickly started going through the books and papers scattered about while the Ghostfacers took out a camera.

“This is Ed Zeddmore and you’re ghost hunting with the Ghostfacers.”

“Is that really necessary right now?” Cas glared at the three would be ghosthunters.

“Yes, we have to document everything and let our public know what’s going on here.” Ed snapped back.

Cas strode over to him gripping him by his collar and yanking him off his feet. “I am a warrior of heaven, I have stormed Hell, and escaped purgatory, you should show me respect.”

Dean was grinning wildly with a look that Sam unfortunately knew meant that he was turned on by his angel boyfriend. Knowing his brother wasn’t going to step in Sam placed a hand on Cas’ shoulder glad that his friend followed the cue and stepped back without a verbal prompt.

“Okay everyone needs to chill out, now.” Sam threw a glare at the camera Harry was pointing at him. “We need to take this seriously, we’re trapped here and our lives are in danger. So knock it off and help us look for some information either on Cyrus, this ghost or a freaking blueprint of the damn house so we can at least get out of here.”

Everyone went back to searching throughout the office, the sound of the glass panels moving starting up several times before Kalina gasped and pointed out a symbol carved out in the back of the wooden bookcase.

“This, it was downstairs on the floor, this circle with the weird letters.” She moved to the side as all the men came running to examine what she found.

“Any idea what it could be?” Harry asked the camera back to recording now that something was happening.

“It looks occultic, where did you say it was?” Sam turned back to the brown haired woman who had moved to sit behind the desk.

“In the basement there was a… sort of clockwork symbol on the ground. There was this machine with levers next to it and the bag at the bottom. Jake picked it up and there was a pedal underneath the bag, one of the rings on the clockwork symbol started moving. Turning in a circle and the house just… came alive.”

“Man why does this smell like witches? I really don’t wanna deal with witches.” Dean grumbled as Cas laid a hand on his forearm.

“I’m sorry but looking at it it seems to be an archaic symbol most likely done by witches but if I had to hazard a guess it would this had the hands of demon witches involved.”

“Wait demon witches? What’s that?” Ed asked shakily as Harry turned the camera on the angel.

“There are three type of witches. Those who are born with gifts and could be either based on light or dark magic. Those who are students of the craft learning from other older more experienced witches, which are almost always practitioners of dark magic, and then those who make deals with demons in exchange for magical powers. Usually making a deal with a demon would mean selling your soul and being taken to Hell once the allotted time is up but with demon witches they usually prove themselves more useful in their freedom and could even work to become more powerful than the demons they originally borrowed the magic from.”

“So are you saying this naked ghost could actually be a witch?” Harry turned the camera towards him to record himself speaking before turning it back to Castiel.

“No, but I do suspect this ghost may be trapped here due to this witch. We need to find more information.”

Everyone went back to searching the room, this time looking for something with the same symbol. A loud bang caused everyone to jump and turn to see a small boy with an old western style shirt and denim jeans staring at them from beyond the glass separating them. He had a lone white feather sticking up from the back of his head band but all eyes were on the sharp bloody arrow sticking out through his forehead. He had a tomahawk in his hand and after staring at each person in the room he raised it, slamming it against the glass. The writing lit up and the boy disappeared, a soft whisper floated in the air “I want to play.”

Dean practically fell back as Ed and Harry tried to run behind him. “Damnit! That kid is fucking creepy!”

“Who was he? Cyrus didn’t have any kids.” Ed asked as Dean pushed them both away.

“Maybe he’s the naked chicks son.” Harry offered.

“Guys I think I found something.” Sam’s voice snapped them all out of their thoughts as they watched him break off a part of the table revealing a thick tome hidden in a compartment. His fingers traced over the symbol that matched the one on the bookcase and what Kalina said she found in the basement.

The book was large making the symbol was easier to see and Castiel frowned reading it. “It is the black zodiac.” He turned the pages until Kalina made him stop on picture drawings of strange bodies. One of which looked to be of a small boy with a wound in the middle of his forehead.

“What like an evil Virgo?” Dean huffed disbelievingly.

“Not exactly, according to this it says instead of the 12 astrological signs the black zodiac consists of thirteen earth-bound spirits.” Kalina pointed to the first page with the young child with a bullet hole in between his eyes. “The first born son,” the page next to that one was of a man with long hair lifting himself up by his arms missing everything below his waist “the torso.” She turned the page, showing someone who looked victorian with their neck squeezed and the following page had a woman covered in vines and flowers. “The bound woman and the withered lover.” The next pages had a man holding a painting palette with his entire right side torn even his arm looked to be ripped off, and a woman hanging from a noose. “The torn prince and the angry princess, which is the naked woman I saw downstairs.” The next pages had a pilgrim looking woman and a small doll looking person with a large fat man behind them. “The pilgrimess, and the great child with the dire mother.” She turned to another page and it had a head instead of what looked like a bird cage, and a man with an apron welding a long hammer. “The Jackal and the hammer.” The last pages of ghosts had a large balding man glaring forward, and a man in armor with a lance piercing his back and coming out of his chest. “Finally the juggernaut and the broken heart. The first twelve ghosts can be used to activate the Basileus’ Machine and open and control the Ocularis Infernum or the eye of Hell.” Kalina read over Cas’ shoulder, her head bowed low making her miss the look he gave her.

“What’s the eye of Hell?” Sam asked annoyed that the other two were blocking him so he couldn’t read the page only see the pictures dominating the pages from afar.

“Wait hold on.” Harry pleaded as he rushed to turn the camera back on, “Okay now.”

“The eye of Hell is said to be an eye in Hell that sees everything. The past and future, heaven and Earth, the blessed and the damned.”

Dean rolled his eyes at the woman reading, “listen as far as Hell goes we’ve been there, seen it, got the postcards there was no giant eye of Sauron in that place. As for heaven Cas knows everything about it, if there was some all powerful eye capable of doing that we would have been fighting heaven and Hell over it.”

“There was no need for it. angels can already see different versions of the future, it is simply due to our choices that dictate which future will come true. Michael, Lucifer and Raphael were the most powerful, they would be capable of seeing the future clearly but lacked the understanding of free will to realize the future they most wanted wouldn’t necessarily be the future we would have.” Cas frowned at the book as the others took in the information.

“But if whoever controls the eye orders it to show the most likely outcome then this person could rule everything, could control the dead and supernatural creatures. Would know how to vanquish them, how they came into being. There would be no knowledge hidden from them.” Kalina spoke up as Cas stared at her unnerving the other ghost hunters watching but, she held her ground.

“Then it would be best if we shut the machine down. To make sure that no one can take control of such a device.” Castiel deadpanned as they stayed in their strange staring contest.

“It says you need the thirteenth ghost, someone who makes a sacrifice of pure love to shut it down once it’s started.” Kalina said before finally breaking eye contact with the angel.

“Then we better head downstairs and figure out a way to shut it down. Maybe salt and burn the ghosts bodies.” Dean said his tone clipped annoyed at his boyfriend staring at the woman. Dean wasn’t a jealous man, not when most of the attention was always on him, but he really didn’t like the woman looking at his angel.

“There will be nothing to salt and burn, these ghosts were not killed here, they were brought here. This house is as much a prison for them as it is for us right now.” Cas looked up at his hunter, his eyes full of love and mirth as he watched Dean’s shoulders relax releasing the tension.

“Then we break the machine? Keep it from releasing all the ghosts, while finding the power box that will open up the house. But, we’ll need someone to deal with the ghosts that have already been released and keep them occupied.” Sam stood and grabbed his bag pulling out salt and his shot gun.

Harry nearly dropped the camera in shock, “no way! You can’t be thinking of everyone splitting up? That’s insane.”

“There are six of us, if we split up into teams of two we can get more done and have a better shot of getting out of here in one piece.” Sam insisted, he really didn’t have it in him to try and convince them to follow his lead. They couldn’t be trusted to be left alone, and they had a better shot of surviving if they were each paired with one of the hunters.

“I wanna be with the angel.” Ed exclaimed while raising his hand high in the air.

“No way, I wanna be with the angel!” Harry argued back, both knowing their chances of survival must be nearly perfect having a warrior of heaven with them.

“I will be with Kalina, we will be go back to the Basileus’ Machine and I will work to shut it down. Since she is the only one who has seen it she is the one I will be paired with.” Castiel’s tone brokered no argument, even if Dean was giving him an angry pout.

“I’ll go see if I can find the security room and find a way to open the house back up.” Sam looked between the two men. “I’ll take Harry.” Harry nearly preened at being chosen until he realized he was still walking into danger and deflated.

“So Ed that mean’s you’re with me.” Dean gave him a wide grin “Congrats you get to be ghost bait.”

The hunters grabbed weapons while passing the Ghostfacers iron rods to help protect themselves while also lowering the risk of them accidently hurting their partner. Castiel, Sam, Kalina and Harry took off for the basement while Dean and Ed stayed on the main floor. Dean hated leaving his brother and lover with two useless people but he knew they could protect themselves, so he pushed down his fear and got into the hunting mind frame. Meanwhile the others were stalking down the stairs into the basement. Unlike normal basements which were dark, dank and dreary, this one had sufficient lighting so they didn’t need flashlights. There was more glass panels down there, but instead of just being the walls, the floors and ceilings were glass with the writing that they now knew were part of the spell to trap the ghosts. Castiel led the way with Harry and Kalina behind him, Sam was last to protect their backs as they made their way through the narrow halls.

“Do you really think it’ll be possible to stop the machine, get through 12 killer ghosts and make it out of this house in one piece?” Harry asked tentatively, his voice low in case they were near one of the undead specters.

“It’s what we need to do, so we’re doing it.” Sam answered before tapping his shoulder. “Let’s go this way. Cas, Kalina be careful.”

Castiel nodded back and made room in the small hall so Kalina could walk beside him. They pointedly ignored Harry’s scared groan as Sam lead him away.

“Aren’t you worried? I mean even if you are an angel, your boyfriend and his brother aren’t. Like Harry said there’s 12 killer ghosts here and we’re all trapped and flying blind. Seems to me death is something you guys should be concerned about instead of this,” Kalina waved her free hand around “macho bravado.”

“You’re more likely to die than us. The Winchesters are constantly doing the impossible but those around them are rarely as lucky. I tend to be brought back from the dead but the chances of you and your friends surviving are extremely slim.” He turns to level Kalina with a look “My condolences.”

*****

Sam and Harry make there way down several hallways without finding any angry spirits. Sam has his rifle ready while Harry staggered behind him trying to film while holding the iron rod. The experienced hunter was too focused to really care if Harry was a poor substitute for his brother and best friend. Luckily the light down there had a way of bouncing off the bespelled glass brightening the halls with a blueish tint so Sam didn’t need a flashlight.

“So your brother and the angel are together? Guess gay love really did pierce through the veil if an angel fell in love with a human. How does that work?”

Sam bitch faced him without turning around “Cas and Dean have a profound bond, and if you value your junk you’ll shut up about them before one or both chop it off.”

“Jeez just making conversation, it was just an observation what with all the UST between them. Well I guess now it’s RST, you know resolved sexual tension.”

Sam whirled around ready to snap at Harry his lip curled in a snarl before he saw the camera. “Are you seriously recording while asking about my brother’s relationship?”

“Hey, while I don’t really like you guys I will admit your brother’s looks will help with the female audience. Add in this Castiel and his Constantine vibe and we could tap into a whole new market.”

“You’re an asshole.” Sam turned cursing his rotten luck with having the Ghostfacers here. He jumped back as a bloodied torso wrapped in plastic crawled past them. Its legs and head were missing and it used its strong muscular arms to lift itself and crawl along. The bottom of its torso pushing it’s dislodged head also wrapped in clear plastic along the ground. He pushed himself against the wall, his arm shot out to push Harry against the wall so the torso could pass without touching either of them.

“I guess not all the spirits must be dangerous. Lucky us huh?” Harry looked up with a smile before his eyes widened and he screamed. ”Sam!”

Instinctively Sam ducked narrowly missing a large hammer that crashed into the wall where his head had been. He crawled backwards keeping the ghost in sight as Harry took off running. The ghost was large, his dark skin covered in blood. His body was riddled with long metal nails and a chain wrapped around him. Instead of a hand he had a crudely fastened blacksmith’s hammer attached to his arm. Sam realized this was the tenth ghost, “The Hammer.” He grabbed his shotgun and fired off a round. As the Hammer dissipated Sam got up and took off after Harry. While the frightened ghosthunter could be forgiven for abandoning him, it wasn’t in Sam to just allow anyone to be in danger when he knew he could help.

*****

Dean and Ed entered the kitchen, making sure to check around them and through the clear walls, in case one of the ghosts try and sneak up on them. The kitchen was as large as a normal home’s living room and was filled with stainless steel high end appliances. Dean frowned looking at the espresso machine. He usually acted like he didn’t like the high end stuff and prefered shitty motel coffee full of grounds, but it wasn’t true. He made a mental note to throw the machine in the trunk before Sam saw. Maybe he could convince Cas to do it, one because he loved Cappuccinos and two he knew Dean had to keep up appearances even if Sam saw right through them.

“Alright look, you’re gonna stay in here and protect the kitchen. I’m gonna run around this floor making some noise and see if we can’t get some ghosts to come in here.” Dean grabbed his shotgun as Ed’s eyes grew large and saucer like.

“You’re… you’re leaving me here alone?” Ed stammered.

“Hey, you’ll be fine. You’re a Ghostfacer right, well face some damn ghosts.” With that Dean turned and walked out of the room.

Ed spun around worried about a ghost sneaking up on him as he watched Dean through the clear walls. Feeling at least a little safer knowing the hunter would come running he pulled out his phone to record.

“Hey Ghostfacers this is Ed with the latest update of… shit what should be call this episode?” He frowned looking away before turning back with a grin. “Hey loyal Ghostfacers, this is Ed Zeddmore, your fearless leader in all things ghosts, spirits and specters. I’m reporting to you from the mansion of the damned. After extensive research by my team we’ve discovered that the haunted mansion of Cyrus Kriticos is not haunted by him but actually by twelve ghosts that Cyrus has ruthlessly captured and imprisoned here. While usually we try to keep our emotions out of hunts I can’t help but feel pity for these poor spirits being tormented and unable to move on to the afterlife because of a crazed, power hungry man who was immersed in the occult.” He bit his lip looking away dramatically as though he were trying to hold back tears, but his eyes were dry. “These poor people were murdered and then captured at their death sites to be dragged here, waiting and suffering until we were able to come and set them free. Some people call us heroes and maybe we are. Maybe we are selfless, heroic, brave, but at the end of the day what we are encompesses all of that. At the end of the day we are and will always be Ghostfacers.”

He was so focused on the phone that he didn’t see the ghost apparate behind him. It was a young man with a varsity jacket, with a large C over his heart. His face and entire right side of his body was bloody and torn and his eyes narrowed on Ed. He flickered out of sight before appearing a few feet behind Ed and lifted the solid wooden bat in his hands. Ed lifted the phone and saw the reflection of the ghost behind him. He ducked, narrowly missing the bat as he felt his hair move with the swoosh from the weapon.

“Dean!” Ed screamed as the ghost continued trying to hit him but kept missing. Ed’s screams turned louder and higher pitched as the torn prince continued to advance on him.

Dean ran in and shot the ghost from behind making him dissipate. Dean rushed to Ed who was cowering on the ground, his eyes squeezed shut as he covered his ears with his hands. Dean rolled his eyes before yanking the other man up by his arm. “The scary part is over you can open your eyes now.” Before he could rip into Ed for not paying attention to his surroundings he heard the sound of a shotgun from down in the basement. “Shit, come on we gotta go.”

“What? What about the plan?” Ed asked as Dean pulled him by his arm back towards the stairs leading back down.

“Plans changed.” Dean jogged down the stairs, heading down one of the narrow halls. “Sammy? Cas?” He dashed down another hall skidding to a stop as he was about to pass a room that had some pieces of furniture that looked like an old fashioned living room. There was a small older woman with dead eyes hand feeding a grown large pale skinned man with a tuft of blond hair and a vomit covered bib on. His large gut hid the axe in his hand but as his mother stopped feeding him to stare at Dean he got up and Dean spied the weapon. Unfortunately the bib and a dingy pair of tighty whities were the only clothing the large ghost had on.

“Hey big boy, hope you don’t make her burp you too.” The giant man child took a step towards him and Dean grabbed Ed taking off at a dead run, not even caring that they weren’t being chased.

*****

Castiel followed Kalina down the hall and around each corner. His eyes scanning each area for the spirits but they seemed to be called elsewhere and didn’t come for them. He watched as Kalina cautiously but confidently turned another corner that lead to a wider hall where they could walk together. She turned to him taking in his sharp profile quietly wondering if all angels looked like him before speaking.

“You really don’t like me huh? Don’t worry I’m not after your boyfriend.”

Castiel raised a slick brow, the human part of him, that sounded a lot like Dean, wanted to snap at her that he is not threatened and she couldn’t compare to the things he can, has done and will do for his mate. Instead his voice remained flat and his face the unfeeling cold marble he knew made humans uneasy. “So, are Harry and Ed aware that you are behind all of this or are they assisting you?”

Her eyes widened in surprise before a slow wide grin split her face, “you’re smarter than you look. They know, we’re in this together no way could I do this alone. Cyrus was my father and this house… it was his life’s work. Once we control the eye the Ghostfacers will be able to control every ghost and specter trapped in this world. Hell they could find out where Jimmy Hoffa’s buried and just enjoy the fame.”

“What’s in it for you?” Castiel asked as they continued walking. “You don’t strike me as someone who wants to be a celebrity.

“Power, I get power.” She raised her chin with pride, her lips quirked in a small smile as she continued her eyes looking far off. “Every spell, every artifact, every drop of knowledge will be mine and I can do whatever I want with it. I could close Hell, save the world from all the evil monsters roaming it’s surface. Or, I could enslave them, go after human monsters with my army. How did you figure it out?”

“The book wasn’t in english. You shouldn’t have been able to read it unless you were an angel, a very old demon, or a witch of the same coven.”

“Hmm, my bad. Guess I got so used to reading it I forgot it was in a dead language.”

“Were you the one who made the phone call to Sam then?” Cas asked as they stopped in front of the door to the room where the machine was. He used his body to block the door keeping her in the hall.

“Nope not me, but we did need Sam here. You and Dean though, you guys are just cannon fodder.”

She tried to push him in so she can get into the room but found he was a solid immovable force. The spell on the house kept him from his powers but there were parts of him the spell didn’t affect. “You gonna move? Or what, go all Avenging angel on me?”

“There is no need to. Do you know what I have learned in all my eons of existence? Enslavement doesn’t work. Taking someone and forcing them into serving you, trying to control them it’s all useless. Because someday those chains will break, and they will rise and strike down those that held them back. They will unleash a fury that their captures never dreamed of.” He bent down his voice a whisper in her ear as his eyes glanced to their side. Kalina was blind to the man with an iron cage over his face, the front pushed out with the metal twisted away outwards. His clothes were an old, filthy straight jacket with all the belts loosened. “Next time you want to call someone cannon fodder make sure you’re already in a safe room and not exposed in a hall.”

Kalina jumped back frowning at him before she was thrown to the side. She screamed as a ghost ripped into her, his power and movement causing her to slide along the glass floor as he slashed into her with his long nails again and again. Her feeble kicks and punches did nothing to stop him as he slashed through her clothes then skin. Her blood coursing over her body trailing after her as he continued sliding her to the far wall. Castiel watched as the crazed looking ghost lifted her up and his attacks never ceased as Kalina ended up on the ceiling screaming for help. Without a word he turned ignoring her bloody gurgling as he used his angel blade to force the door panel to close locking the Jackal out of the room whenever he was finished with the young witch.

He made his way across the room, walking around the large round clockwork on the ground that was still turning, stopping only when specific symbols connected. He knew now that meant another ghost had been released from their room and would be walking around the house. He hoped Sam and Dean were okay and that neither Ed nor Harry would be a danger to either of them. Once Cas reached the machine levers he stared at it lost on what to do to shut it off. He pulled out the book they found in the office glad that he had the foresight to make sure Kalina hadn’t held it. A rattling sound caused him to look up and see a woman with dark hair hanging from the ceiling near him. She wore a pale pink ruffled dress, with a tiara on her head, her hands tied behind her back, a man’s necktie around her neck and her neck bone was snapped and sticking out of the side of her neck as maggots crawled over her face.

“I’m sorry, you should not have been forced here.” As she shook herself causing the rattling noise again he turned back to the book to see if he could find anything about an off switch.

*****

Sam ran down the halls trying to find Harry but was getting lost each time the halls began to change. A scream pierced the air and he whirled around seeing Harry on the other side of the wall being chased by a woman flying towards him. Her arms and head were locked in a pillory yoke as her old style gown, covered in cobwebs, trailed behind her. Sam called out to Harry telling him to run as he took off down the hall looking for an open space to get himself to the scared ghost hunter. The wall in front of him was beginning to close so Sam threw himself into it before it could slam shut. He grabbed Harry whirling him to hide behind Sam’s larger frame. The pilgrimess hoved for a moment her eyes raking over Sam before letting out a piercing scream and charged right for him. Her trapped hands doing nothing to withhold the large talons of her nails.

Sam grabbed his shotgun aiming it at the spirit before something caused her to fly to the side, slam into the bespelled wall, causing it to light up and making her dissipate. Sam looked up, his eyes widening at the sight he’s seen in his worst nightmares.

“Jessica?” His voice broke but it was enough to cause her to stop before leaving. Her beautiful blonde hair was singed as was most of her body. The white dress she had worn to bed the night she was killed was still on but now she had a deep red gash across her stomach that looked to still be bleeding an endless supply of blood. But it was her, it was Jessica Moore the woman he loved and because of him was now dead, but instead of being in heaven she was trapped here. “No, Jess no!” His heart clenched as he dropped to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes as she hung her head unable to look at him. “Jess, please?” What he was asking for he had no idea but she must have known because she shook her head slowly before she turned, her feet dragging as she walked away disappearing before reaching the wall. “JESSICA!” he cried out before choking out a sob, “don’t go.”

Harry rushed to Sam’s side and tried to get him up but the larger man just pushed him away as he curled into himself, his grief suffocating. “Sam come on we have to go.”

“No, no Jess.”

“Sam, come on.” Harry grabbed him by the arm and tried to lift him but he was dead weight and Harry wasn’t nearly strong enough. “Okay, look Sam… this house wasn’t finished being built until 2005. The same year Cyrus died.”

Choking back a sob Sam turned red rimmed eyes at the other man. His brain struggling to think through the emotional onslaught of pain and guilt but one thought was clear. One date that would haunt him even in death. “November 2, 2005.” His voice low and harsh at the scratch of his throat. “We have to save her, I have to free her. She doesn’t belong here, she doesn’t deserve this.”

Harry scratched at his chin knowing he had to step lightly because of how intelligent Sam was but he hoped the grief was enough to cloud his mind. “Well, like Kalina said the thirteenth ghost has to be born of sacrifice and love. If you really want her freed you’re the only one who can save her Sam. The only one who loves her enough to make this situation right.”

Sam took several deep breaths before wiping his eyes. He forced himself to calm down, to not allow his pain to take over, not when he had a mission. “Where’s the machine room?”

*****

In no time both pairs had reached the closed door of the machine room. Dean threw himself on his brother wrapping him in a tight hug glad that he was safe and sound. His eyes caught the sight of Castiel inside the room and he could feel himself relax now that his family was okay. Ed and Harry shared their own hug even though they were fairly sure that the hunters would have kept the other safe. As each pair extracted themselves from their hugs Ed’s eyes landed on the bloody trail on the floor leading up to the ceiling. He let out an ear piercing scream throwing himself back against the wall. Harry and the Winchester’s turned to see Kalina hanging from the ceiling in shreds. Her eyes and mouth open in a state of frozen terror as the blood dripped down from her matted hair to land in the large puddle on the ground.

Harry turned to the closed door of the machine room and the angel inside who hadn’t even noticed their arrival. His mind played out the most likely scenario of how Castiel had locked Kalina out allowing her to be attacked and killed by one of the ghosts and did nothing to help. The woman he loved was gone, and it was this supposed angel’s fault.

In a rush of anger he threw himself against the door, banging and kicking it with all his strength as he screamed at the man inside. “You monster! You let her die! You bastard! I’ll kill you, I’ll fucking kill you! You hear me? I’ll kill you!”

“Hey!” Dean yelled out as he tried to grab Harry to calm him down. Harry turned throwing his weight into a punch aimed at Dean who dodged it easily.

Hearing all the yelling Castiel turned and saw everyone outside the door. After putting down the book he headed across the room to open the door and let them in. The screaming and threats from Harry meant nothing to him. He knew that there was nothing the human could do that would kill him or even harm him. As he reached the middle of the room a ghost flickered outside in the hall were the men were all crowding Harry trying to calm him. Castiel cried out for Dean as a large ghost swung knocking them all back. Panicked he ran to the door to open it and get his family inside but the door wouldn’t budge.

Dean looked up in shock as the large ghost, even taller than Sam, stalked towards them. He was wearing a mechanic’s jumpsuit riddled with bullet holes, his skin underneath had matching open wounds. The juggernaut reached Ed, Dean watched in horror as he grabbed the poor smaller man and threw him around the hall. The sickening crunch of Ed’s body slamming against the walls snapped Dean out of his frozen state as he and Sam grabbed their shotguns unleashing as many salt rounds as they could into the ghost.

“Why isn’t it working?” Harry screamed out as he watched the ghost continue his attack the salt gun rounds did nothing to stop his vicious attack.

“I don’t know.” Sam yelled back as the juggernaut lifted Ed above his head by his neck and legs. He slammed the back of Ed’s body against a corner of the hall snapping the young man’s spine.

“Ed!” Harry screamed out as Sam grabbed him and threw him through the now open door to the machine room as Dean and Cas worked to close the door trapping the juggernaut outside. Harry pushed Sam away and was going to run before a rattling sound caused him to whirl around and scream at the bound woman hanging from the ceiling.

“She means no harm. Even if she did she is unable to attack anyone.” Cas said as he watched Harry warily. “I am still trying to figure out how to shutdown the machine, so far the book has not mentioned anything about an off switch.”

“That’s cause I am the off switch Cas.” Sam raised his hand to stop his brother before he could cut in. “Look, I’m the thirteenth ghost. Jessica is here, she’s trapped here as the withered lover and I’m obviously the broken heart. I have to free her Dean, it’s my fault she’s dead and I can’t leave knowing that I’ve failed her again.” His eyes were filled with tears as he tried to urge his brother to let him do this without fighting.

“Jessica? Jessica Moore, your first love? Sam the thirteenth ghost isn’t a failsafe it’s the last piece to turn the machine completely and irreversibly on.” Cas whirled around his bound wings wanting to rip into this realm and display themselves in the most aggressive way possible. His jaw clenched as he glared down at Harry. The human quivered at the look of hate on the warriors face. “When I am done destroying this machine I will drop you in the deepest bowels of Hell. I will leave you there alive so that every demon will sense you and be drawn to you. I will let them tear you apart for what you and your friends have done to Jessica and the other spirits.”

Dean and Sam turned to Harry as Cas marched back to the machine after yanking the metal rod from Harry’s clenched hands. Before either hunter could ask the scared ghost hunter what Cas meant the sound of metal on metal caused everyone to jump, and watch as Castiel used as much of his angelic strength, within the spell wards that he could call on, to pummel the machine.

Harry stammered out an apology but the brothers grabbed their shotguns pushing him out of their way as they joined Cas in destroying the machine. Sam used the butt end of the gun to smash the metal panels open and reached in ripping the cords and wires out. His skin burned from the jolts of electricity but he ignored the stings as Cas and Dean worked on the other side. He heard the shot gun go off and barely ducked in time to miss the pieces that took off flying but he didn’t care. He failed Jessica once, but he won’t fail her again. She was his light, his angel in darkness when he lost hope and he won’t leave her trapped here. They took Jessica and used her. The demons saw her, saw her beauty, her kindness and brought her to him to make him fall in love. He tried to do right for her, be normal, be who she deserved, instead of the boy with the demon blood he would later become. And then Brady came and took her from him the same way they took his mother. He should have protected her, should have been there for her, should have stayed away to save her. But that wasn’t enough, no these human bastards came and imprisoned her here. What if Lucifer had won, what if Sam hadn’t have come back each and every time someone tried to take him out? She would be trapped here forever with no hope of freedom. Reaching inside of himself in the darkest part of him, he rarely allows to surface, he found the strength to rip out the large black metal gear in the middle of the machine. He flung the vile thing behind him as the ground began to shake.

The clockwork mechanism on the floor began to lift, the round turners that had each of the ghosts symbols rising and falling barely missing each other swooshed through the air like sharp blades. The sound of gears grinding was their only warning before the turners started flying off crashing against the walls breaking open the glass dividers. The house gave an ominous creak before the sound of shattered glass rang through the air. Castiel tucked both hunters underneath him knowing he could and would survive anything that happened to strike him. It felt like forever before the sounds of exploding glass and metal stopped but it was only a few minutes. The three hunters righted themselves and watched as 11 of the ghosts appeared surrounding Harry who let off an ear piercing shriek before it was abruptly cut off and they all disappeared taking Harry with them.

“I know I should feel bad, but if he had anything to do with this shit show then I hope he gets what’s comin to him.” Dean spoke his voice cracking slightly as he stood up and dusted himself off.

Cas flew off as Sam was getting ready to speak but the appearance of one of the ghosts made him stop. His mouth dropped at the site of his first love. All of the blood and burned marks gone as she stood in front of him in a beautiful bright white dress. Her hair flowed down past her shoulders in golden ringlets as she reached out with a finger to wipe the tears escaping his eyes.

“Jess, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m so sorry.” Sam broke down crying, the words falling out of his mouth, his brain unable to think of anything that he had always planned to say. Instead he just kept apologizing not even seeing the sad, heartbroken look in her eyes as she shook her head. Before he was ready Jessica disappeared and Dean helped his brother up and out of the house. Sam was so out of it he didn’t even notice when they were out on the road heading for home.

******

They entered the house and Sam begged off their after case drink, wanting to go straight to his room. Dean watched his brother shuffled down the hall. He wanted to stop him, to tell Sam…. well tell him something. He always said he didn’t do chick flick moments but that was only because he wasn’t good with words. He couldn’t calm people and get through to them the way Sam could. Even with how much time they spent together Dean was at a loss of what to say to his broken hearted sibling. He still carried his own weight of guilt over Jessica’s death. He knew realistically that he wasn’t to blame for Jess’ death but he knew there was a greater chance of her being alive had he not forced Sam to hunt the lady in white with him. Forcing himself from his thoughts he opened the extra duffels he found in the Impala and his face split with a wide grin. Inside the bags were glistening chrome kitchen appliances. He threw his head back letting out a laugh as he picked up the espresso machine.

“Castiel I fucking love you, you weird dorky little guy.” With a smile he turned to bring the bags into the kitchen already making plans for all the meals he’ll be making that week.

*****

Sam laid on his bed watching the ceiling fan turn, the shadow of it making his eyes relax as he stared in silence. The rustling sound of feathers brought his attention to the side of the bed as he watched his best friend walk towards him.

“Sam, I know you are upset over discovering Jessica in that house.”

“Did you know she wasn’t in heaven Cas?”

Castiel shook his head slowly. “No, I had never been in her heaven but I always assumed the other angels would have made sure she had a wonderful heaven. She was your love and deserved eternal happiness. I had no idea she had never reached paradise. That’s why I made sure to bring her to her heaven myself this time. I even erased her memories of her death and of being trapped in the house.” He reached into his trench coat pulling out an envelope. “But, before I did she wanted to write this for you and asked me to bring it.”

Sam took it from the angel’s hand gingerly. He gave Cas a nod of dismissal and flew off to Dean. With a heavy heart he opened the letter and read Jess’ final words to him.

“Dear Sam,

I am so sorry you’ve carried around all this weight on you the past few years. It broke my heart to see you so upset and it was more than the normal “my girlfriend is dead” upset. This was some next level I’m the cause of this heartbreak. You are not responsible for what happened to me Sam. You’re not. You loved me and you were always there for me, it was Brady who hurt me and killed me not you, never you.

Now I spoke to Castiel and some of the things he’s told me are very confusing. Apparently you seem to have forgotten me, the real me and are mourning an idea of me. I’m not perfect Sam and the way you’ve been talking about me and describing me….you’ve put me on a pedestal that I do not deserve to be on. I’m an asshole Sam, I’m snarky, I’m sassy, I have a messed up sense of humor that can only come from being 21, young and dumb. Maybe I would have grown out of it, maybe some of it I did by living so long as a ghost, I don’t know. I haven’t told many jokes in awhile. But, regardless I am not perfect, I’m not some goddess who walked this earth before meeting a tragic end. I’m just me. And this me, it’s not special.

You’re not a good man Sam, you are not a good man and you never will be, because you’re a great man, a wonderful, fantastic, amazing man. Asshole move right? Writing a syke out, that’s cause I’m an asshole.

How many times did we fight because you liked everything neat and I would leave my paint brushes and paint water all over the place? Remember what happened when I decided to experiment with charcoals? Hell, I even pretended to not know how to use the washing machine so you would always have to do both of our laundry. I wasn’t this perfect person Sam and neither are you. But you are light years ahead of me when it comes to being amazing. All these wonderful thoughts you have of me, that you dreamt of me. It’s all you, you are the one who took care of me and was there for me. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes and my memories because you were so much more than I ever deserved Sam. And, I always planned on being better later, on being a better person, a better girlfriend later. That I would do something special for you but the time never came.You could have had anyone Sam, but you chose me and I wasn’t worthy of that love and devotion. I’m not worthy of this idolization either.

You deserve to be loved Sam, you deserve to feel what you make everyone else feel. To have someone take care of you, love you, comfort you, be there for you, someone who can be apart of your life in every aspect. You were my first love Sam and because of something that was completely not your fault you were my only love, but that doesn’t mean I have to be yours.

I love you always and forever

Jessica

P.s maybe cut you hair you’re looking kind Fabio-ish ha ha ha”

He laughed through his tears, his heart filling with the knowledge that she didn’t blame him, and actually wanted him to stop blaming himself. Hell she even wanted him to move on and fall in love with someone else. His eyes landed on his cellphone, he wasn’t going to jump into the deep end so soon but maybe he can take baby steps. Reaching the E’s he sent out a text inviting Eileen to come hang out with him, Cas and Dean for Halloween next week. He wasn’t ready for marriage, or for forever but in time maybe he could be.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone wants to talk to me or see some of my other work that I haven't or maybe won't be posting to AO3 (hint the reader inserts) [my tumblr](http://mrsgabrieltrickster.tumblr.com)  
> Comments and Kudos are life blood.


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